Saturday, November 23, 2002
Mario Lemieux's two assists raised his league-leading point total to 38.
ATLANTA (AP) -- Alexei Kovalev scored the go-ahead goal with 5:51 left and Pittsburgh beat Atlanta 3-1 Friday night, the Penguins' 14th straight victory over the Thrashers.
Wayne Primeau added an empty-netter with 49.5 seconds remaining, and Pittsburgh improved to 14-0 all-time against the Thrashers.
The first two goals came with the man advantage, and Mario Lemieux had assists on both, raising his NHL-leading point total to 38.
He also has a league-high 24 power-play points.
The Penguins, who snapped a seven-game winless streak, have scored nine of their past 10 goals on the power play.
Ilya Kovalchuk tied the game at 1 late in the second period off an assist from fellow Russian Vyacheslav Kozlov for his team-high 10th goal of the season.
Ill-timed penalty
But the Thrashers couldn't overcome an ill-timed penalty by defenseman Andy Sutton, who was called for boarding with 6:25 left.
Pittsburgh patiently passed the puck around before Kovalev beat Pasi Nurminen with a one-timer from just inside the blue line.
Atlanta's loss came in front of new goaltender Byron Dafoe, who signed with the team Wednesday.
He sat in the stands with his wife, Kim, and watched his new team lose despite outshooting the Penguins 37-23.
It's the second straight game the Thrashers had the shot advantage, and only the fourth time all season.
But Pittsburgh goaltender Johan Hedberg was up to the task, constantly stopping point-blank shots.
Jan Hrdina gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead in the first period, stuffing in a rebound after Nurminen stopped a shot by Lemieux.
Lemieux easily faked his way past Pascal Rheaume and moved in, and Hrdina was unchecked for his eight goal.
Pittsburgh improved to 1-3-2-2 in its past eight games.